The present invention relates generally to ball holding devices and, more specifically, to devices which may be worn on a garment for releasably grasping a game ball, such as a tennis ball.
Many games require a player to carry a plurality of game balls on his person in order to facilitate game play. For example, in the game of tennis or squash, each player typically carries three balls to promote play of the game. For many players it is quite difficult to carry three balls in one hand. If the player has a pocket, one of the two spare balls may be placed in his or her pocket; however, the rather large volume of a tennis ball relative to the size of the typical pocket on tennis attire causes the garment to tighten about the player's body which restricts the player's freedom of movement. Not only is it difficult and distracting from the game to insert and remove a tennis ball from the pocket of the garment but a ball in a pocket also produces an unsightly bulge which is undesirable.
The U.S. Pat. No. 3,871,030 discloses a woman's tennis panty which is provided with specially designed pockets for holding a tennis ball. The problem of an unsightly bulge is avoided in this case because the tennis panty is intended for use as an undergarment to be covered by a short tennis skirt. However, the problem of restriction of the player's freedom still remains with this design.
Quite a number of tennis ball holders have been designed as a modified belt having pockets large enough to removably receive one or more balls. Typical designs are disclosed in the U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,074,180; 3,873,009; 4,065,040; 4,072,256; and 4,079,871. Such types of ball holders are unaesthetic, inconvenient to use and, like the tennis panty, they tend to interfere with the player's freedom of movement.
Still another type of tennis ball holder is disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,061,256. This holder comprises an armlet designed to be worn on the lower arm during a game and having a pouch for insertion of a tennis ball. This ball holder is visually unorthodox and also somewhat uncomfortable to wear.
In order to avoid the problems noted above, several ball holders have been designed for separate attachment to a game (tennis) garment at any desired position. The U.S. Pat. No., 3,744,059 discloses an attachable tennis ball pocket which can retain a ball without interfering with the wearer during play. The pocket includes a base element for attachment to the garment and to which is affixed a fabric material of sufficient elasticity to receive and hold the ball, permit ready removal thereof, and which lies flat and remains unobtrusive when empty. The fabric material is disclosed as being in the form of netting such as "Raschel Power Net Knit"; also disclosed are elastic fabrics such as Lycra.
Although this type of tennis ball holder solves the principle problem of aesthetics, inconvenience and interference with movement, it is relatively expensive to produce. The pocket requires an elastomeric band along the upper open edge of the elastic fabric so as to continually urge this upper free edge or lip of the pocket toward the backing and into a closed position to retain the tennis ball.
Another garment-supportable tennis ball pocket is disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,119,247. This pocket is made of relatively stiff, flexible material such as plastic. The pocket may be formed or molded in one piece from such plastic, which may be low density polyethylene.
Although this tennis ball pocket may be produced relatively economically in large quantities through mass production techniques, the production of smaller quantities is expensive. In addition, the stiffness of the pocket does not permit it to lie flat against the garment when a ball is not inserted therein.